Published February 4, 2012 by Candy Evans

I have this thing about homes and real estate, obviously. Not only do I like to know the stories inside every house — the tales of the sale — I also like to know the house behind prominent people. Like Nancy Goodman Leitstein Brinker. She has really been in the news lately, with the controversy over abortion funding/non-funding/maybe-funding of breast exams at her org, the Susan B. Komen Foundation, arguably one of the most powerful charities of the 20th century. It was named for her sister who died of breast cancer. Nancy is a breast cancer survivor. Brinker is being cast as a Dallas gal, though she was really born in Peoria, Illinois, which is south of Chicago and considered “downstate”. Her father was a commercial real estate developer there, Marvin L. Goodman. But she started the Komen foundation in Dallas when she pledged to her dying sister to help find a cure for the disease. She married restaurateur supreme Norman Brinker in 1981, whose first wife, tennis star Maureen Connally Brinker, had also battled cancer (ovarian) and who really helped Nancy launch Susan B. Komen. Tidbit: Norman, an avid polo player, got his start at Jack In The Box. Norman always loved horses, even had stables with his first wife, when they lived at 3727 Frontier in Lakewood, a grand white 4900 square foot home valued at about $1,000,000, built in 1941. The same family who bought Frontier from the Brinkers live in the house today. In 1993, Norman Brinker suffered a serious accident and head injury while playing polo that left him paralyzed. He and Nancy divorced in 2003, ostensibly so she could go on to lead an active life as U.S. ambassador to Hungary. In March of 2003 he married Toni Chapman. Norman Brinker died in 2009. 9410 Alva Court (listed with precious Ginger Nobles/Susan Baldwin at Briggs Freeman Sothebys) was built in 1988-1990 by a physician, anesthesiologist Dr. Terry James. The Brinkers bought the home because one of the downstairs bathrooms was outfitted to easily accommodate the handicapped. This is where Nancy Brinker lived when she was in Dallas. The home is now owned by oncologist/hemotologist Dr. Dennis Birenbaum, who bought it in 2002, from Doctor to Doctor. The home is really one of the finest in Old Preston Hollow. Classic architectural style, it has a one plus corner acre of gated grounds. At over 11,000 square feet, there are four bedrooms and a whopping seven baths, great traffic flow, and large room sizes. The formal beauty begins right at the front door and foyer, with a grand double stairway, formal living and dining spaces and oversized great room facing the gorgeous pool and grounds. The first floor master has an attached salon/library with built-ins, his and her bathrooms and walk-in closets, and a sitting area within the bedroom area. It appears that the handicap bathroom that was here no longer exists.

The kitchen has –everything: built-in refrigerator and freezer, double ovens, gas cooktop, wine cooler, warmer drawer, granite counters. There is a Morning Room — this home had a Morning Room before there were mornings. The study with full bath has gorgeous wood paneling, and Nancy exercised here in the large exercise room, game/media room upstairs, and a 5 car garage. Only $5,395,000. Steal. Listed for $6.3 back in 2009.

Best of all — depending on your opinion of her now — Nancy Brinker slept here.